cleaning equip.

T

treewhisperer1

Location
Decatur, Georgia
We had a really wet day today, and worked through it. anyway, everything is soaked and pretty gritty. how should I clean some of the vital life saving pieces of gear? For instance what about carabiners- should they be lubed to get out some of the grit and stuff. How do you guys clean your ropes?
We just never seem to have wet weather around here so for the most part gear stays pretty clean- any thoughts?
 
60° and rainy, bet it feels like 50° or less when you're all wet!

I would think it couldn't hurt to douche out the carabiner working parts with WD40 or similar, centrifuge out the excess, then wipe them dry. WD40 isn't really a lubricant, so you might want to insert a couple drops of light machine oil to ensure longevity of the bearing surfaces. Caution is in order, though, for too much oil, apart from being something you don't really want getting all over your ropes or other soft gear, can cause future grit to become a gritty paste and hang around in the way instead of working its way back out again during use.

Glen
 
You can wash your ropes in a front loading washing machine in a mesh bag. I wouldn't use a top loading machine because you can destroy the machine or you could wash it in a bathtub. You can use a little detergent but i dont think its necessary. As far as drying ropes you can hang them or lay them on a tarp with a fan in front of it out of direct sunlight. Caribiners and such i use a dry lubricant such as graphite. I think oil would attract more dirt and grime and gum up faster.
 
I've washed my ropes in a top loader for years with no problems. Simple Green is what Bluewater Ropes recommends.

If there is lots of grit in biners a good boil should work things out. Follow up with liguid or powdered graphite.

WD40 works for cleaning sawblades. Gas too, Pine-sol softens pitch from ropes and hardware.
 
jerseywild, graphite is available at any (or most) auto parts stores.

I hate oil for biners, it's a dirt magnet.
 
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I've washed my ropes in a top loader for years with no problems.

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Do you daisy chain the rope or just slap it in there.
 
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Go to a laundramat that does not have a full time attendant. /forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif

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yeah no doubt! I surprised at the amount of grit and dirt was in my rope. I cleaned it yesterday in the bathtub- girlfriend wasn't too psyched about that.
 
not wet round your parts? if we stopped work in the rain we wouldn't work...

wash the ropes in the machine 30* just water

jamie
 
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